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Methyl Bromide

Methyl bromide is a broad-spectrum fumigant that has been used around the world since the 1930s as a pre-plant soil fumigant to control insects, pathogens, and weeds, and to control insects in buildings and in commodities. It is also used for quarantine and pre-shipment applications. It is not manufactured in Canada, but is imported mostly from the U.S.A.

Methyl bromide is one of the very few chemicals that were approved for broad-spectrum use in agriculture and pest control. The dominant use of methyl bromide worldwide is for pre-planting soil fumigation. In Canada, methyl bromide is registered under the Pest Control Products Act for soil, space and commodity fumigation, however the use and import of methyl bromide are controlled under the Ozone Depleting Substances Regulations, 1998.

Canada is a Party to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which requires Parties to gradually phase-out production and consumption of ODS, as well as reduce and eliminate trade in these substances. In 1992, Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer recognized that methyl bromide has an ozone-depleting potential (ODP); thus it is identified as an ozone-depleting substance. Since January 1st, 2005, the manufacture, import and export of methyl bromide has been prohibited in Canada, except for use in quarantine and pre-shipment applications, as feedstock, as analytical standards, or for critical or emergency use.